Have you ever tried to meditate and realized, "I just can't clear my mind for the life of me!"?The hardest part about meditation can ironically be the entire point of meditation: clearing your head of negative thoughts and anxieties.
If you feel that meditation just hasn't done it for you, next time try medicating prior to your meditative session! Cannabis is known for its ability to help focus and quiet the mind, especially when combined with meditative practices.
Why does this matter? I don't care for meditation, and I just want to enjoy my cannabis.
While this may seem like a hippy sounding idea, think about it. Negative thinking and overthinking can be as exhausting as running a mile in record time. And it can affect you negatively, as stress has been shown to cause number of adverse effects on your health:
Physical: headaches, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, change in sex drive, stomach issues, and sleep programs.
Mood: anxiety, restlessness, lack of motivation or focus, feeling overwhelmed, irritability or anger, sadness or depression.
Behavior: overeating or undereating, angry outbursts, drug or alcohol misuse, tobacco use, social withdrawal, and exercising less often.
Furthermore, meditation has been practiced for thousands of year as a tool to relax the mind and clear your thoughts. It's free to do, can be done from the comfort of your own home or outdoors, and it only takes a short amount of time to receive benefits!
Stacy Mulvey, a "ganja-yogi" and founder of Marijuasana told Vice, "As cannabis users, we do enlightenment almost a little backwards in a way. Instead of getting there through years and years of dedicated practice to strict meditation, we're kind of amping it up and [getting a] glimpse of that other side first...Then [we] learn how to ground that, and balance it, and center it, so we have a better understanding."
The importance of reaching a mental calmness is not only beneficial psychologically, but also physically, as mindfulness can be beneficial for a number of health issues, especially stress-related conditions. Conditions related to inflammation can also be positively affected, as meditation paired with cannabis has been shown to boost the immune system and promote the healing response.
So, do they go hand in hand?
Yes! Our brains are full of cannabinoid receptors that interact with cannabinoids to elicit the medicinal benefits cannabis provides. Essentially, our internal systems were designed to interact with cannabinoids via the cannabinoid receptors that are found throughout the body. And these cannabinoid receptors can be stimulated, not only through cannabis use, but also through meditative practices.
There are a few different meditative techniques that utilize cannabis use to more effectively reach the desired state of mind.
Gazing Meditation and Cannabis: the purpose of gazing meditation is rather straightforward. You will focus your attention on an object, such as a candle flame, to sharpen focus, promote clarity, and aid concentration.
Choose your object and sit across from it in a comfortable seated position, grounding down through the base of your spine reaching up through the crown of your head, relax your jaw and muscles of the face
While remaining focused on the object, allow your attention to settle on the details such as the flickering of the wick and candlelight and the movement of the smoke and where it travels
Gaze gently and do not strain your gaze. Let your eyebrows relax Allowing your breathing to soften, deepen, and gradually move towards the object.
Gaze and observe what comes up in the mind, watch/ observe the thought, then allow your breath to redirect your focus back to your chosen object allowing your mind to still and clear.
Deep Breathing and Cannabis: one of the more popular methods of meditation involves the use of deep, controlled breathing to relax your internal systems. Sativa and sativa-dominant strains are often best in these cases, especially a strain with an uplifting effect associated.
Sit in a comfortable position with your heart lifting, shoulders relaxing and spine straight. Close your eyes,, and allow the tension to melt away from your body.
Observe your breath during this time, then begin taking long, deep breaths in through the nose, think your going to fill the lungs from bottom to top, expanding your belly first then rib cage , feel your chest rise
After a full inhale, pause for a beat or two and then very slowly release the air from your lungs and repeat.
Use the motion and repetitiveness of your breathing to relax your mind and clear your thoughts.
Body Mindfulness and Cannabis: for those that are like me and have trouble relaxing or sitting still, this technique is ideal as the idea is to focus your attention on your body and specific areas that are holding tension. This type of technique works best utilizing an indica or indica-dominant strain, allowing for full-body relaxation and tunnel vision focus.
Lie flat on your back on a comfortable service and allow your arms to rest at your sides with palms turned up and fingers naturally curved - avoid tension. Legs should be relaxed with feet falling outward.
Allow a blanket of gravity or heaviness cover the body to settle and ground you, start utilizing your mind like a scanner to inspect your body for tense areas. Begin at your feet relax the toes and slowly move up your body, awareness on points tightness or tension sending your breath to these areas focusing the thoughts on allowing this tension to dissipate, (remember your mind is very powerful) leaving softening, fluidity and release in its place.
Make sure your breathing is relaxed; deep breaths in, followed by long, slow breaths out. Continue to lie there moving through any discomfort within the body and mind utilizing your breath repeating these techniques to reach grounding clarity and relaxation.
It can also be helpful to put on some calming music of your choice! Make a playlist. Or enjoy silence, you will notice which allows you to drop in quickly
Lots of things sound great in theory, but how do you know this actually works? Well, Jessie Gill posted an article through Vice that discussed her personal experience pairing cannabis use and meditation that reflects the idea of combining cannabis and meditation for increased medical benefits. Although Jessie was nervous and intimidated walking into the meditation studio due to the perception she thought others may have of her, after her session she reflected and found:
"The vibrations of the bowls had penetrated my psyche, combining with my high. And while I wouldn't yet be able to identify all the benefits of two lauded practices - smoking weed and meditating - my marrying of the two for under an hour intensified my conviction for both."
If you are an Ohioan suffering from one of these 21 medical conditions you may be eligible to treat your ailment with medical marijuana, which includes both THC and CBD products.
Click here to learn more about what Ohio Marijuana Card's state-certified medical marijuana doctors can do for you, or give us a call at 1-866-457-5559 and our friendly support team can walk you through the entire process, and set you up with an appointment.